James Thomas Fields, 1817-1881

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Fields went to Boston at the age of 14 and worked as a clerk in a bookseller's shop. While there he wrote for local newspapers. In 1838 he was made junior partner of Ticknor, Reed and Fields. In 1854 the firm became Ticknor and Fields and in 1868, it became Fields, Osgood and Co., after the addition of James Osgood to the firm and the death of Ticknor.

The publishing firm's Old Corner Bookstore was a Boston literary institution for many decades, as was the firm itself. Under its various names it published the leading American and British authors. In 1861 he took over from James Russell Lowell the editorship of The Atlantic Monthly.

Fields himself was the author of three literary books, the most notable of which is Yesterdays with Authors. It has remained in print more or less continuously since its publication in 1872. An edition of this work is, in fact currently available on amazon.com.

James Thomas Fields, 1817-1881